My Biking Adventures

[Michael Sherwin]

On s l o g b o g (am I allowed to say that) I have a thread about my last 11 months of bike riding. As it might be inspiring I will copy and paste my last post here. Last July around the last week of July I started riding bike. I could not even do one mile without becoming totally bonked. Today I did 30 miles.

As far as riding bike goes today was another milestone. One advice for becoming a stronger cyclist is to apply constant pressure on the pedals. That sounds like good advice but it is impossibly difficult for the beginner. However, today I was able to do that for the first time on a long ride. Except at the 6, 12 and 18 mile marks when I stopped to drink some honey water. My legs never felt stressed on todays ride and I never got fully winded. It actually was a breeze today and that is despite a 12 mph headwind on the initial 8 miles that is mostly uphill. So my time did suffer a bit because of the wind but I got most of that time back on the way home. My goal today was 30 miles and I achieved that but not all at once. I had to cut my initial ride short because my left wrist was killing me. I guess I'm still a bit of a sissy, lol. My initial ride was (oh let me check my bike computer) 18.9 miles at 9.8 miles an hour. Not bad for the amount of wind I had to battle. When I got home my wrist hurt so bad that I did not know if I'd be able to ride any more this day. Though after an hours rest my wrist felt okay. So I went out to do another 11.1 miles. And I did exactly 11.1 miles. And the wind was even worse. But because I was only going 11.1 miles I gave it more effort. It was on the same level 3 course but a truncated version. And again I did not struggle on any part of the course. Even on the last leg back that is all uphill. I managed 10.5 miles an hour on the second trip even after riding 18.9 miles previously. What would be the total average mph. I wonder if I still know how to do the math? ((18.9 x 9.8) + (11.1 x 10.5)) / 30 = 10.059! Even though I took an hours rest I am happy to average more than 10 mph for 30 miles. Wowsie wow wow! I'll take it!! Not bad for someone almost 67yo that was in the hospital in Feb of 2023 with a hemorrhagic stroke, crises level blood pressure (257/139) and Bell's Palsy all at the same time. And not expected to live.

On a lighter note my bike computer coupled with my heart rate monitor says I burned 1,985 calories today.

On a more somber note after I got back from the second trip I felt dizzy and nauseous and through up a few times. But I feel fine now.

[Shawn Henry]

That's quite the improvement! Congratulations!

[BeNotDeceived]

Epic bike rides were once upon a time my forte, especially when I lived in me Fort. This was very near my first March 8 encounter that was a preview of me picture at march8miracle.org. Said bog site stems from slogfrog.com and the PTP that narrated a fun chapter in a related story. It’s the story that never ends. What chapter will you write?

[Niemand]

Good for you. I think a decent gear system is a must. The last few bikes I've had have been lacking in that area. It is quite hilly round where I live.

[Michael Sherwin]

Sketchy weather since my OP has kept me off the bike except for some short high intensity efforts. They weren't supposed to be short duration. It's just that a few miles into what was supposed to be a long ride, dark black clouds came over the mountains with my name written on them or so it seems. Anyway the high intensity short effort part was racing the clouds back to my place. I won all those races except one. But luckily that time Rick was headed into his garage for cover and I yelled, "mind if I join you". Thankfully he said yes, I could join him.

I had to talk myself into riding today. Two days ago I did manage to get in a 20.5 mile ride in 2h:5m:15s and I did not feel fully recovered yet. Then I thought that the alternative is reading post and possibly replying here on LDSFF. So that made my decision way easier. I rode my bike. Today 40.6 miles stopping briefly every eight miles to drink half a bottle (carrying two bottles) of water and eat a cinnamon bear. The time was 3h:54m:40s and the average speed was 10.4 mph. Another big improvement!